Mix II
by Passionworks
Summary: Second iPod Challenge.  Sometimes, the silent voice is the loudest.  What remains stored in the conscience can reveal so much more than what comes out.  Every notion is unveiled through music.  Rated for suggestive content.


**Author's Note: I have ultimately decided that, since I had so much fun doing the iPod challenge, I should continue on and challenge myself again.**

**So, here are the next ten in my set:**

_**These Dreams (Live) – Heart**_

_**Baby It's You – The Carpenters**_

_**I Didn't Want to Need You – Heart**_

_**Barely Breathin' – Vixen**_

_**It's Too Late – Carole King**_

_**There's the Girl (12" Remix) – Heart**_

**(This is one of four versions of this song. I had to buy the rare UK single to acquire it, along with the 7" remix. For those who want to listen to it, I did upload a video on YouTube containing the song. It's got a very modern beat to it. I'd suggest giving it a listen)!**

_**Glorious Leader Napoleon (Squealer's Song) – Richard Harvey**_

_**Adia – Sarah McLachlan**_

_**Hitchin' a Ride – Vanity Fare**_

_**What I Want – Daughtry (feat. Slash)**_

**Man, it does strike me as odd that a few of my bands repeated. Well, never mind… Heart, Vixen, and The Carpenters are a few bands that have a bounty of songs on my iPod. Heart especially. I have over one hundred songs by them on there…**

**I'll admit, this batch is far better than the first one!**

**And like I said for the first challenge, please enjoy the (mostly) vintage music!**

Mix II

By: Passionworks

* * *

One

'These Dreams (Live)'

-Heart

From the 1993 Dutch Single, _Will You Be There (In the Morning)_

Time: 4:23

Pairing(s): Azulacentric

Word Count: 164

There are days when the dreams seem too real. When they seem to literally obliterate the bridge between distant fiction and all-too-close reality. She hates when they come to be this way; she deems herself powerless, since she is under the spell of sleep when they creep upon her.

And there are days when she misses her constant hallucinations. When each word she spoke was from the very stem of her conscience. But such delusions are untouchable, for they have been quelled by intravenous solutions.

And so, she fears sleep, and begs herself to stay awake. With bloodshot eyes and a weary body, she crawls to her saturated corner, crosses her arms, and observes the workings of nighttime outside a small, open window.

A small gust of wind sweeps through it; she does not feel it, but she can hear it whistling some foreign tune in her ear.

And it lulls her. Lulls her into the slumber she has so desperately tried to avoid.

* * *

Two

'Baby It's You'

-The Carpenters

From the 1970 album, _Close to You_

Time: 2:54

Pairing(s): Azuko and (slight) Ozula

Word Count: 175

The Firelord is a picture of steadiness, a structure composed of sound intellect and reason.

But there is only one human that can break him now. No, dear ones, it is not his father. The former Phoenix King is a figure long forgotten and disgraced by the very history he yearned to write. It is his sister who sends him reeling in sympathy. He does not understand the exact reason why he is so concerned for her now; he supposes that it has something to do with the Avatar's fixation on her rehabilitation.

Perhaps it is the words that strike at his chest hardest. The people who once revered and feared her now squawk and bellow, call her a criminal, a murderess.

A pawn.

And within his chambers, he weeps. He cannot alter opinions. Opinions are set in stone. They are unchangeable now. As much as he would like to set records straight, he knows there is little use in doing so.

His sister must endure the pains of the war's end on her own.

* * *

Three

'I Didn't Want to Need You'

-Heart

From the 1990 album, _Brigade_

Time: 4:07

Pairing(s): Azulaang

Word Count: 119

(This one was inspired by Dixie's –Pulchra-16's –fic for me, titled, 'Under the Sun').

Azula once thought of herself as an untouchable, unconquerable force. She was once a human of little pity, a heart without a caring soul, a mind without a conscience.

And then came that fateful night. She sees it clearly before her like a picture show set up to mock her.

He, her sifu, her teacher, the Avatar, made love to her. And she has learned to love him in return.

But they are separate now, lovers without reason to be. And the former princess yearns to give up her heart from him, but why give up her heart when she really never had one to begin with?

Take a look. Concealed by her ribcage, a hollow, bleeding hole resides…

* * *

Four

'Barely Breathin''

-Vixen

From the 1998 album, _Tangerine_

Time: 4:14

Pairing(s): Kataang and Azulaang

Word Count: 141

The Avatar is typically not one to hold the stigmatic image of a sinner, but even he is capable of falling under the curse of temptation.

And he certainly has fallen. Fallen deep. Very deep. A trench resides, and the edges are too far from his reach.

The Fire Princess has him in her web. She is the spiderfly with manipulative hands. She etches her wicked message upon him like a warning.

_Heed it._

But even she, Aang soon realizes, is capable of making mistakes. And he is the one to claim the rights of punishment.

"Why, Aang?" his wife, Katara asks under choke-filled sobs. "Why her? You know she is incapable of love, or feeling at all."

He senses no tingle at her cutting words. There is no remorse, no guilt.

Maybe, just maybe, he, like Azula, can't feel either.

* * *

Five

'It's Too Late'

-Carole King

From the 1971 album, _Tapestry_

Time: 3:57

Pairing(s): Zhaozula and Ozula

Word Count: 194

"Father, I loved him," Azula states without hesitation. Her eyes are dark and sunken, orbs that never divert in gaze.

Her father smirks brilliantly as he matches her stare from his seat on the Fire Nation throne.

"You loved him not," he responds, his index finger making contact with his bottom lip as he considers his next move. "He was a man of war. You are a woman of politics."

"Who are you, Father, to blatantly criticize and overrule my feelings? Am I not allowed to offer my affections to whomever I deem worthy?"

"Azula," Ozai starts, his fist clenching at the arm of the throne, "your affections are meant only to be mine. And you know this."

"But you are unkind to me, Father. I cannot love you in the manner I loved Zhao. It is a shame that you had him slain to fulfill your wishes."

"Those wishes are ones you share with me. Zhao died a hero, but his reputation after death condemns that. Really, Azula, you only _thought_ you loved him."

Azula frowns bitterly. "That is untrue, Father. I just never had the chance to confess to him, is all."

* * *

Six

'There's the Girl 12" (Remix)'

-Heart

From the 1987 UK Single, _There's the Girl (12" Remix)_

Time: 7:22

Pairing(s): Urzai

Word Count: 616

(This is just my interpretation of this event –and it is not how it _really _happened).

Prince Ozai's hands caress the ribbon so intricately curled around the parchment letter like a snake enveloping its prey. Its edges are aggressively tight in his grasp; the material easily crinkles and bends, creating triangular marks that remind him of cracked glass before it ultimately shatters. His eyes graze over each pristinely scripted word, each finely woven calligraphic letter.

He releases a heavy sigh. His wife has left him, sent herself into a state of extinction. He will be crowned as the new Firelord to his country in a few hours, and he will be the first to take the throne without a wife.

Ozai suddenly senses a twinge in this heart that he has never quite felt before. What a pity –a shame –it is, that Ursa banished herself out of duty to her husband.

Holding the letter, he turns to his two young children. Zuko's expression is tired and solemn, like he failed to rest well this night. Perhaps he is ironically setting himself up for the news his father will soon break to him. Azula, however, is vibrant this very morning. She expresses deliberate happiness with a wicked, cunning smile, like she is already aware of the latest happenings.

"Princess Ursa no longer resides in the Fire Palace," Ozai says in a grave tone, his face hardening with solemnity. "She has been banished."

Azula takes in the report with little emotion at all. Her smile vanishes, but her face remains blank. She is contemplating, perhaps, this predicament –what it means ultimately for her. Ozai expects her to eventually crack a smile.

She does.

"Father," she asks in a mockingly polite tone, "is there any known reason for Mother's sudden departure?"

Resting an authoritative hand upon her small shoulder, he looks down on her and says, "No, there is not."

"Well," the elder sibling, Zuko, stutters fretfully, "there –there has to be a reason, right, Dad?"

"Father already answered that question, dumb-dumb," Azula cuts in with an evil twinkle in her eye. She glowers at her sibling, frowning scornfully. But then, she grins again, an explanation popping into her head. "Maybe she left because she didn't want to have to deal with you anymore."

"That's not true!" Zuko retorts, his eyes swelling. "Mother loved me."

"Stop your bickering, children," Ozai yells. "This is a serious matter."

"I apologize, Father," Azula says. Zuko states nothing in response to his father's wishes. The boy crosses his arms and waits for further news from Ozai.

"It has also come to my attention," the second Fire Prince declares, "that my father, Azulon passed away in his slumber last night. And I am to be crowned Firelord at high noon."

…

Formally dressed for his initiation ceremony, Prince Ozai sits upon his bed, his arms draping atop his legs. His eyes meet the rug-topped floor below his feet.

He ponders. His wife left without a word, and for some odd and peculiar reason, this utterly bothers him so. He often thinks of himself as an unfeeling creature, emphatic in his demands and steady in his expression of emotion.

But everything today coils tightly around Ursa's legacy. His inauguration as Firelord, his father's death, even her own banishment. All of it. It was all a plan in his benefit.

Diverting his stare, he sends a hard look at his wife's portrait upon a small wooden table next to the bed. Her face is stoic, but, yet, she bleeds compassion and sympathy.

He needs not her pity in a time like this.

The Firelord-to-be extends his hand and turns the frame, Ursa's countenance is now in front of the wall.

And he vows, he will forget her. One day, he will.

* * *

Seven

'Glorious Leader Napoleon (Squealer's Song)'

-Richard Harvey

From the 1999 soundtrack, _Animal Farm_

Time: 2:32

Pairing(s): Ozaicentric

Word Count: 180

Once upon a time, a great power resided over the Fire Nation throne. The strength of this said residing power was not harmful, nor was it corrupt in its conducts. The leading figure was brilliant and insightful. He had a level head upon his brawny shoulders, and he was blessed with experience and raw intelligence. What marked him, though, was not his sheer ability to send lower countries reeling.

It was the honesty of his own usurpation.

But let us not dwell on that for too long now. This power has long been sent to the grave. An early grave.

Now, the leader lives about the rest of his life in a prison cell. Barely able to squander one decent meal in his day, he has lost his physical strength; much of his vigor is gone.

But every great and glorious leader longs to live out those days again. With his son growing old on the throne meant solely for his daughter, the dead-to-society chief can only dare to dream.

And even simple, meaningless aspirations can get one into trouble…

* * *

Eight

'Adia'

-Sarah McLachlan

From the 1999 live album, _Mirrorball_

Time: 3:59

Pairing(s): Bato, Sokka, and Katara (Family/friendship drabble)

Word Count: 250

"I can't believe Aang held this map back from us," Sokka says in a flurry of spittle and clenched fists. "See, Katara? Even from the beginning, I knew he was a traitor."

"Sokka," Katara says in a calm tone; it is a stark contrast from the one being utilized by her flustered brother. "Aang's the Avatar; he isn't a traitor."

"Anyone who keeps me from seeing Dad is a traitor in my book."

"You're overacting. Now that I think about it, he probably had some sort of reason to act in the way he did. I think we should go back and talk to him."

"There's no need to go back. He's probably long gone. Good riddance too."

Bato listens from the front of the line. He face hides a bleakly set frown from his tribal comrades.

He speaks: "We'll need to keep moving if we want to make it to the rendezvous point before nightfall. I'm sure Hakoda would want the two of you to be happy when he meets you. For now, just leave the argument behind."

Really, he considers the argument a petty one, but he wishes not to express his opinion and inspire more negativity. He remains silent but speeds up slightly as the three of them pass the next steep grade.

Sokka, again, evokes the dispute. "What? Did he think that his mission was more important than family?"

"Now, Sokka," Bato instructs, "the Avatar was probably under pressure. You shouldn't assume his motives. It's pointless."

* * *

Nine

'Hitchin' a Ride'

-Vanity Fare

From the 1974 album, _Hitchin' a Ride_

Time: 2:57

Pairing(s): Zukocentric

Word Count: 134

There is little inlet into the devastatingly complex depths of banished prince, Zuko's mind. But within his conscience resides a desperate feeling of utter loneliness. Separation from his own kin and blood. Like the lone wolf that seeks the pack after a fateful split.

Some very distinct component of his troubled mind seeks to remedy the isolation he feels. He wishes urgently to return to his homeland. To turn back from his stigmatic mission and arrive to where his ruin began. He deems this aspect of himself to be a fragment of his most hopeless of wishes –as if any mortal man could turn the dial and alter the past.

It is true now; the Avatar no longer gives him hope. The future, he believes, is to be just as bleak as the past.

* * *

Ten

'What I Want'

-Daughtry (feat. Slash)

From the 2006 album, _Daughtry_

Time: 2:49

Pairing(s): Zucest

Word Count: 377

(In this one, I assumed that neither Azula nor Zuko know anything about the cessation of the Avatar's reincarnation cycle. Don't go criticizing me).

A soft but imposing knock echoes from behind Prince Zuko's door. The hour is late; he expects no disturbances at this time in the night.

"It's late," he says gruffly, rising from his bed and adjusting the knot on his robe. "Who is it?"

"Come now, Zuzu," comes a playful response, "do I really have to answer that question?"

Azula; he should have known.

Sighing, he regretfully answers, "Come in. And make it quick, Azula."

The princess steps inside in a conceited manner, a crooked smile screwed onto her lips. She gazes at Zuko's robed back as he stares depressively into his mirror.

He fingers his scar. "Why have you come here?"

"Have I disturbed you, Zuko?" Azula lightheartedly teases, her steps becoming more evocative in nature. "Are you tired still? You slept through much of the day. You mustn't be weary now." She extends her arm and traces his shoulder with the claw of her index finger, her skin pressing into the crimson material of his fine robe.

Zuko shakes her off. "Just answer my question." He turns now, facing her devilish smirk.

She exhales excitedly. "I spoke with Father again just hours ago."

"You lied to him about the Avatar."

Azula shoots a nasty look at her tired, uninitiated sibling. "You've already conversed with me over this insignificant matter. I need not to hear about your insecurities. Aside from that, you want to know why I lied?"

"I would like to know, yes."

"I lied simply because Father was upset about the Avatar's death."

"Of course he was. Why wouldn't he be? And now I'm being blamed for it."

"Oh, Zuko, Dad is no longer angry, for I have informed him of a point that is of the Fire Nation's advantage."

Zuko's unblemished eye widens. "What might that be?"

"The reincarnation cycle has begun again. The one who is Avatar now has been born, and is nothing more than a harmless infant. This provides an ample window for our nation to strike."

Azula stretches, yawns, and caresses her brother's chin. "However, if the Air Nomadic Avatar is still alive, then I_ will_ tell Father."

"And I'll tell him that _you_ lied."

"And what would that do, Zuko? Do you honestly believe your word trumps mine?"


End file.
